Trump claims people are trying to assassinate him for one reason | US | News
While US President Donald Trump repeatedly expressed concerns about his security in his speech on Monday, he claimed that he was targeted by hitmen because of his status as an “extremely important” leader.
The president made the bold comments Monday while speaking with families of victims of crimes committed by undocumented immigrants. He announced that February 22 will be designated “Angel Family Day,” a day aimed at honoring U.S. citizens killed by undocumented immigrants, a key issue of his 2024 presidential campaign and his second term in office.
Trump has been the target of many failed assassination attempts; one of them narrowly escaped after being shot at a 2024 rally in Pennsylvania.
“You read about all these crazy hitmen, but they’re only going after consequential presidents. You know, they’re not just going after consequential presidents,” Trump said Monday. “If you look at Abraham Lincoln, some great, some great. John Kennedy was a very important person in a way. He represented something very important.
“I’ve been told – I saw this the other day – they say they’re only results-oriented. So maybe I want to be a little less results-oriented,” he said.
Trump later said: “I don’t know how long I’ll be around. There’s a lot of people shooting for me, right?”
The speech was delivered a day before the president’s highly anticipated State of the Union address; During that speech, he would discuss his administration’s initiatives to combat immigration and illegal border crossings, among other issues.
Among those commemorated were Laken Riley, who was killed by an undocumented immigrant, as well as 62 people killed and two survivors of similar attacks.
Riley, a 22-year-old Georgia nursing student, was killed by Venezuelan national Jose Ibarra on February 22, 2024. Ibarra was convicted of Riley’s murder in January.
This came after the President signed the Laken Riley Act, which mandated that all non-citizens arrested and charged with certain crimes be held in federal custody without bail.
A White House official called Monday’s vigil “a solemn ceremony reminding us all why the deportation of the worst must continue.”
White House officials attending the event included Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and top immigration officials, including Homan, as well as members of the “angel family.”
“President Trump is proud to hold the Angel Families accountable by opening the most secure border in history, deporting criminal illegal aliens allowed into our country by previous administrations, and upholding the rule of law by vigorously enforcing our immigration laws,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to The Post.
“The first bill President Trump signed was the Laken Riley Act to prevent these senseless tragedies from happening again and keep innocent American citizens safe. The President and our nation will join the Angel Families in honoring the memory of these amazing men and women.”
The president also paid tribute to grieving relatives on the occasion, as well as other high-profile victims, including Katie Abraham, Rachel Morin and Kayla Hamilton.
Katie Abraham, 20, died in a drunken-driving crash with a Guatemalan man in Illinois in 2025; Morin, 24, was killed by a Salvadoran man while hiking in Maryland in 2023; and Hamilton, 19, was raped and murdered by a Salvadoran teenager in Maryland in 2022.
